Felt cleaning apparatus



INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

E. H LANSING FELT CLEANING APPARATUS 2 Shets-Sheet Filed April 4, 1929Feb. 23,1932.

wmwmmwhmw mmmwmm m w um mwwwww wmmmm WWW lllllllllfllllllllllllllllillililillIlllllllllllllllflllllllflW I Feb. 23, 1932; E, 1 A s1,846,646

FELT CLEANING APPARATUS Filed April 4, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 23, 1932 PATENT OFFICE EUGENE H. LANSING, OF WATERFORD,NEW YORK FELT CLEANING APPARATUS Application filed. April 4,

This invention relates to an improvement in cleaning apparatus for papermaking felts wherein Water or other cleaning fluid is delivered onto thesurface of the felt and the r water and dislodged impurities are removedfrom the felt by suction boxes.

In an apparatus of this character, it has been found that the suctioninfluence of the suction boxes is not as completely effective on thefelt as might be and that for various reasons the cleaning incident tothe suction is not in proportion to the suction. For example, at pointsin the cleaning operation, the suction is more or less effective beyondand above the ,15 surface of the felt, thus tending to draw particles ofdust in the air into the body of the felt and in a measure tend toincrease the refuse particles in rather than remove them from the felt.Furthermore, it is customary to use a roller in the suction opening ofthe suction box to prevent the felt being drawn inwardly over the edgesof the opening by the suction. This roller, while admirably serving thepurpose of preventing the felt from p 2 being drawn inwardly towardthebox, has a natural tendency to prevent that intimate contact betweenthe lower surface of the felt and the surface of the box necessary tothe best suction effect.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of means,flexible in itself and adapted to move with the suction box, to overlieand bear upon the felt throughout that portion of the felt at leastwhich may be overlying the suction opening, this element serving toinsure intimate contact between the felt and face of the suction box andpreventing any material influence of the suction on the air above thefelt.

Structurally considered, the improvement comprises a pressure contactorin the form of an endless flexible element which overlies and contactswith-the felt and is in itself at all times in movement in response tothe move ment of the felt, the contactor overlying and bearing on thefelt throughout an area which is subjected to the suction influence, thecontactor moving with the suction box to maintain its relation with saidbox ininsuring the 59 pressure contact on that portion of the felt 1929.Serial No. 352,581.

with which the suction opening cooperates in all and every position ofthe suction box.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section, partly in elevation, showing theimproved cleaning apparatus in cooperation with a felt.

. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the spray heads forming part of thecleaning apparatus and illustrating more particularly the pressurecontactors and their connection with the spray heads.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view through the cleaning apparatusillustrating the relation of the parts.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a modified form of contactor andsuction box.

The cleaning apparatus involving the spray heads, suction boxes and theparts for insuring correlative operation of the parts is described moreparticularly in my co-pending application filed April l, 1929, SerialNo. 352,580. For the purposes of the present disclosure, these detailsmay be briefly described as follows:

The usual felt 1 is mounted for longitudinal movement between side framebars 2. These bars support a threaded shaft 3 above and transversely ofthe felt, concentric with which is arranged a hollow guide-4f terminallysecured in the side bars 2 and having a. longitudinally ranging slot 5in its upper portion. The spray heads 6 are mounted for slidingcooperation with the guide, each including a hollow chamber 7 overlyingand bearing on the guide and a traveler 8 connected to the chamber by aweb 9 extending through the slot 5, the traveler being formed with athreaded opening 10 to cooperate with the shaft 3. A spray nozzle or jet11 communicates with the chamber 7 and two such spray heads are held inrelatively fixed relation by a pipe connection 12 which is in opencommunication with the respective chambers 7 and is served with cleaningfluid from any suitable source. The spray heads are spaced aparttransversely of the felt a distance at least equal to half the width ofthe felt.

Suction boxes 13 are arranged beneath the felt immediately in advance ofthe respective spray heads, there being one such suction box inalignment longitudinally of the felt with each spray head, the suctionboxes being held in rigid spaced relation by a guide rod 1d. The suctionboxes are formed below the suc tion chamber with interiorly threadedopenings 15 to cooperate with a threaded shaft 16 mounted in the framebars 2. Suitable mechanism, indicated generally at 17, involvingappropriate gears and pinions and a clutch member 18 is arranged tocompel reciprocating movement of the spray heads and suction boxes, thesnifting of the clutch being automatically controlled by a lever 19, arod 20 connected to the lever and adapted to be moved through theengagement of one of the suction boxes with a projection 21 on said rodto thereby move the clutch in one direction, the lever under suchmovement being held by a latch 22 which is tripped by the other suctionbox at the opposite limit of movement of such boxes, to thereby releasethe lever to the influence of a spring 23 which shifts the clutch for anopposite cooperation.

By this construction, the spray heads and suction boxes are reciprocatedtransversely of the felt, so that the entire area of the felt is firstsubjected to the action of the cleaning fluid from the spray nozzles orjets 11 and then to the action of the suction boxes as the wettedportion of the felt advances.

Each suction box 13 is provided with a face plate 24 upon which the felt1 rests, this face plate being formed with a narrow slot 25 of a lengthless than the similar dimension of the face plate and the majordimension of the slot extending transversely of the felt. The suctionchamber 26 of the suction box is in communication through a flexibleconduit 27 with any appropriate source of power tending to exhaust theair from the suction space.

It has been found by experience that there is a tendency to draw thefelt inwardly by the suction, so that there is more or less of a rubbingaction against the edges of the slot 25 and the felt. To overcome this,it has been proposed to mount a roller 28 in bearings 29 secured to theunder side of the face plate 24, with the periphery of the rollersubstantially in the plane of the upper surface of the face plate andthe diameter of the roller less than that of the slot 25. The felt isthus supported at a point longitudinally of and between the edges of theslot 25 to prevent the felt being drawn inwardly by the suction while atthe same time affording ample space for the ingress of water and othermaterial removed from the felt by the suction.

lVith the suction boxes constructed as described, it has been founddifficult to maintain felt of the contained water and impurities to thedesired degree will at times extend its influence beyond the uppersurface of the felt and thus draw into the felt any floating particleswhich may exist in the air immediately above the felt. Both of theseobjectionable influences are highly disadvantageous in felt cleaning,for the first tends to an imperfect suction action on the felt and thesecond tends to adding to the impurities in the felt.

The primary object of the present invention is to overcome both of thesedefects by providing for movement with the spray heads and suctionboxes, pressure oontactors which will insure intimate contact betweenthe felt and suction box adjacent the slot and will also prevent suctioneffect on the air above the upper surface of the felt.

These pressure contactor-s are indicated in their preferred form inFigure 2 and comprise endless webs 30 of appropriate comparatively heavytextile material freely supported on rods 31 carried in the lower end ofhanger straps 32, the upper ends of which are pivotally connected at 33to the opposing side walls of one end of the chamber 7 of each sprayhead. The pressure contactors 30 extend toward and are of such length asto project beyond the slot 25 in the immediately advanced suction box,the width of the contactor being somewhat gr ater than the length of theslot 25. Thus, each contactor extends from one of the spray heads, beingsupported at one end by a spray head and its opposite end resting freelyon the felt beyond the slot in the particular aligned suction box. Asthe contactor is flexible and endless, that is in tube-like form, it isapparent that the contactor rests for the greater portion of its lengthdirectly on the surface of the felt and that as the felt is moving inthe direction of the free end of the contactor, the movement of the feltwill insure a corresponding movement of the contactors, causing same tomove continuously around their supporting rods 31. As the contactormoves *ith the spray heads, and as the suction boxes are maintained infixed relation to the spray heads, it is apparent that the contactorswill move transversely across the felt and at the same time have anindependent endless movement around the supporting rods 31 in thedirection of movement of the felt. The pressure of the contactors on theleft insures that the felt throughout the area of and beyond the edgesof the slot 25 in each suction box will be pressed into more or lessintimate contact with the face plate 24; of the suction box to insurethe most effective action of the suction. Furthermore, as the contactorsuperimposes two layers of material above the felt, it is apparent thatthe suction effect beyond and above the surface of the felt is verymaterially reduced and any tendency of such suction to draw air-carriedparticles toward the felt will simply move the particles into thesurface of the contactor. It is contemplated, however, that thethickness and texture of the contactor is such as to practicallynegative any suction effect above the contactor.

In Figure 4 there is shown a slight modification wherein the contactoris adapted for use with the conventional type of suction box which isdesigned to be fixed with respect to the frame and extend transverselyof and throughout the width of the felt. Here the suction box 84underlies the felt 35 and is supported by a rod 36 mounted in the sidebars of the frame. The slot 37 of the suction box is substantiallycoextensive with the width of the felt. The contactor, indicated at 38,is similar to the contactor previously described except in relation toits width; that is to say, the contactor is of endless form and of alength to bear upon the felt, at least throughout an area coextensivewith that of the slot 37. The contactor is supported upon a rod 39supported in hangers 40 which are connected to the frame structure abovethe felt. .In this form, the contactor is without movement transversethe felt but serves its full function and of course is capable ofmovement under the influence of the moving felt, as in the preferredform.

What is claimed to be new is:

1. The combination with a paper making felt and a slotted suction boxunderlying the felt, of a flexible pressure contactor overlying the feltand presenting a constantly changing surface thereto, said contactorserving to exert pressure on the felt throughout the area of the slot inthe suction box.

2. The combination with a paper making felt and a slotted suction boxunderlying the felt, of a flexible pressure contactor overlying the feltand serving to exert pressure on the felt throughout the area of theslot in the suction box, said contactor being of endless form andindependently movable by and through contact with the moving felt.

3. The combination with a moving paper making felt and a slotted suctionbox beneath the same, of a pressure contactor of endless form supportedat one end above the felt, said contactor for a material portion of itslength resting upon the felt in that portion overlying the slot of thesuction box.

4:. A paper making felt cleaning apparatus including spray heads movabletransversely of the felt, suction boxes movable with the spray heads,and a flexible pressure contactor carried by and movable with each sprayhead, said contactor resting on the felt above the adjacent suction box.

5. A paper maln'ng felt cleaning apparatus including spray heads movabletransversely of the felt, suction boxes movable with the spray heads,and a flexible pressure contactor carried by and movable with each sprayhead,

said contactor resting on the felt above the suction box and being ofendless form and independently movable by and with the moving felt.

6. A cleaning apparatus for paper making felts, including spray headsmovable transversely of the felt, suction boxes movable transversely ofthe felt, hanger bars depending from each spray head, a rod connectingthe hanger bars of each spray head, and a pressure contactor of endlessform encircling the rods, said pressure contactor in advance of thespray heads resting upon the felt above the suction boxes.

7. A cleaning apparatus for paper making felts, including spray headsmovable transversely of the felt, suction boxes movable transversely ofthe felt, hanger bars depending from each spray head, a rod connectingthe hanger bars of each spray head, and a pressure cont-actor of endlessform encircling the rods, said pressure contactor in rear of the sprayheads resting upon the felt above the suction boxes and moving over therods responsive to the movement of the felt.

8. A paper making felt cleaning apparatus, including spray heads movabletransversely of and above the felt, suction boxes movable in conjunctionwith said spray heads transversely of and below the felt, and fiex iblepressure contactors connected with the spray beads so as to movetherewith, and having free portions bearing upon the top of the feltabove said suction boxes.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EUGENE H. LANSING. 1. 5.

